INTERVIEW: It’s something we’ve worked on for a good number of months

13 January 2017

Hall / Nixon

Lee Dykes on the arrival of Gary Liddle

Head of recruitment and joint assistant manager Lee Dykes spoke to us on Thursday about the work done behind the scenes to get the signing of Gary Liddle across the line in time for the weekend visit of Morecambe.

“It’s something we’ve worked on for a good number of months,” he revealed. “Even last season we were exploring the opportunity of getting somebody of Gary’s calibre in, just before he went to Chesterfield.

“He’s in the same bracket as Nicky Adams and Mike Jones and it shows the fans we’re going after the right players, and that we’re prepared to bide our time until we can get them.”

“Gary will bring a bit of solidity down the centre of the field,” he told us. “He can play a number of positions but he’s also a good experienced professional who has played at a higher level. He’s coming to Carlisle United to push us onto our main target, which is to gain promotion this year.

“He’s played at a higher level and he’s obviously played for the manager at Notts County. He’s got that understanding of the manager’s philosophy straight away, which is a real plus. If we achieve our aim he’s a player who will be with us for some time.

“With versatile players sometimes they can’t hold a position down. What you would say with Gary is that with any of the positions he can play, he’ll always be one of the leading candidates to play in that position. Wherever the manager wants to play him, it isn’t as if he’ll be playing there for a couple of games. He’s going to hold his place in a position in the team.”

“There’s a sense of satisfaction with getting it over the line after the time it’s taken,” he admitted. “Colin West and the manager need to take a huge amount of credit because they know the player.

“We’ve spoken to him from the minute dot and even last time, a year ago, he was excited by the sound of coming to Carlisle United. It didn’t work out for us for a number of reasons back then but this time there hasn’t been a doubt in anybody’s mind. Chesterfield have also been very good in the way they’ve helped it along.

“I think it’s very important that the season is dealt with in two halves. We’re in the second half of the season, in a very good position, and we’re in the top three in the league. That’s why it’s important or us to bring players like Gary in who can kick us on.

“I think any League Two fan watching Sky Sports News would see ‘Gary Liddle signs for ...’ and hope it was their club.”

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